UCLA's Guerrero has adapted to — and defended — his job

Dan Guerrero, UCLA's Director of Athletics, has had no shortage of success since he took the job in 2002 as his athletics department has won 22 national championships. But the UCLA faithful still haven't seemed to wrap their arms around him yet. JOSHUA SUDOCK, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

LOS ANGELES – At the intersection of a turnaround season in UCLA football and the beginning of a new era in UCLA basketball, athletic director Dan Guerrero is ruminating on how his job has changed over the years.

“Someone told me long ago that the skills of the average worker become obsolete at least five times during their working careers,” Guerrero said in an interview with the Register. “Somewhere along the line, you need to regroup and retrain and rethink how you do what you do and what your organization is all about. You have to adapt in a very dynamic environment that's constantly in flux.”

There's a sense, as Guerrero continues, that he and UCLA are in the middle of one of those periods of change. His department has proved successful, by most standards, in recent years.

He hired Jim Mora, who beat crosstown rival USC and had UCLA football within a field goal of the Rose Bowl in his first season. Another hire of his, baseball coach John Savage, led the Bruins to a national championship, was named national coach of the year and subsequently signed a lengthy contract extension. Fundraising is up significantly.

Still, petitions have surfaced lobbying for Guerrero's firing, begging for change. And as those fan-led campaigns have gained traction, it has become more unclear where the perception of Guerrero ends and reality begins.

“Honestly, what other people think of me is none of my business,” Guerrero said. “I know what we're all about. I know what the expectations are.

“When you look at UCLA last year, I think that there were only two schools that had a program in a football bowl game, both the men's and women's basketball tournament, and in the College World Series. We're one of them.”

Louisville was the other.

He has recited these accomplishments before, no doubt, but there's no denying them, even for Guerrero's critics. Football has indeed “turned a corner” after a long period of mediocrity and Guerrero has proven he's serious about the program, raising the salary pool for assistants to a competitive $2,442,000 for the 2013 season. The Rose Bowl and the Bruins' practice facility have also been renovated.

But after Guerrero fired Ben Howland in late March, expectations and avoidable missteps have fueled the fire. UCLA fans begged for a big-splash hire to ignite the program's fan base. Message boards threw out elite-level names such as Louisville's Rick Pitino or Florida's Billy Donovan.

But Guerrero knew UCLA, still at the mercy of the UC Board of Regents' approval, couldn't possibly afford to wrangle them to Westwood. That constraint, however, didn't sit well with UCLA fans.

“People were throwing out the big names,” Guerrero said of the search. “Well, the big names are making 31/2, 4, 5, 6 million dollars. There's no way in the world that UCLA is going to be in that derby. We know where our parameters are.”

Guerrero settled on New Mexico's Steve Alford, a coach he says reminded him of Mora. And Alford's contract, despite those noted budget constraints, should still make him one of the 10 highest-paid coaches in college basketball next season.

As for Guerrero's unsuccessful attempts to woo former Butler coach and current Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens and Virginia Commonwealth's Shaka Smart, he maintains there were “less than one hand's worth” of candidates he spoke to about the job.

He won't name names. But in talking about the general perception of the process, Guerrero purposefully alludes that things weren't as they seemed in the public.

Dan Guerrero, UCLA's Director of Athletics, has had no shortage of success since he took the job in 2002 as his athletics department has won 22 national championships. But the UCLA faithful still haven't seemed to wrap their arms around him yet. JOSHUA SUDOCK, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero, left, and new men's basketball head coach Steve Alford pose for the media with the basketball jersey. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero talks to reporters during a news conference before the Las Vegas Bowl in 2007. JAE C. HONG, AP

1 of

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.